A recent study has confirmed that eating nuts is not only safe in pregnancy but it also considerably lowers the risk of food allergy in the kids.

Pregnant women can eat peanut butter provide they themselves are not allergic to it. The study however gives a cautionary note and says that the study does not prove a cause and effect relationship.

Allergic reactions to food components are very common in children. As per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC, 4 in 100 kids in USA suffer from some kind of food allergy.

In the early 90’s, Doctors were of the opinion that Pregnant Women should avoid eating nuts since it can elevate the risk of food allergy in children. Therefore most expectant and lactating mothers were told to avoid eating nuts. However the guidelines were retracted in 2008 since no evidence was found for this hypothesis that nuts can cause allergy in children.

The present study was conducted by A. Lindsay Frazier, of the Dana-Farber Children’s Cancer Center, Boston, and colleagues. Data was collected from Nurses’ Health Study II. Out of 8,205 children, over 300 children were identified as suffering from some type of food allergy. Among these 300 children, over 140 cases of nut allergy was reported.

The team established that kids of non-allergic mothers, who eat more than five servings of nuts per week, had lesser risk of developing nut allergy than other children.

Michael Young of Boston Children’s Hospital and one of the study authors said to CBS news “In women who ate peanuts and tree nuts more than five times a week, they had children that had a 30 percent reduction in the risk of developing peanut and tree nut allergies,”

Nuts are a rich source of good fats and fiber. Studies have also revealed that eating nuts lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The study supports the hypothesis that early allergen exposure increases the chances of tolerance and thereby lowers the risk of childhood food allergy

One Response

Peanuts are not nuts….but a member of the legume family. So this study is questionable from the start. In other words, not specific to nuts and perhaps to all foods. Eat everything in site when you’re pregnant and your baby will too!